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Arabic pita bread. Hello from Turkey! traditional arabic pita bread

Pita bread is popular in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries. Outwardly, it resembles a small cake, hollow inside. This crumpet can rightfully be one of the most ancient dishes, since mentions of it are found in the Old Testament. Today it is not only served with the main meal, but also prepared as an independent dish, stuffing the flatbread with all sorts of fillings.

Arabic pita bread can be made from yeast and unleavened dough. Let's look at several recipes for this dish that can be prepared at home.

Yeast dough pita

Despite the intriguing name of this bread, the process of making it is relatively simple. Anyone can bake delicious pita bread. In addition, preparing a dish involves a set of products that are almost always available in every home.

Ingredients for preparing pita (recipes in all cases indicate tablespoons):

  • 500 g flour;
  • 300 ml water;
  • ½ tablespoon each of salt, dry yeast, sugar;
  • 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Arabic pita bread is prepared like any other baked product, namely, it begins with the process of kneading the dough. For this recipe, there is also a rule of mandatory sifting of flour (in order to saturate it with oxygen and remove lumps and impurities).

  1. The flour is sifted into a container in which the dough will be kneaded later. Then, using a mixer at minimum speed, mix the flour, to which salt and sugar are added. When the bulk is evenly distributed in the mixture, add the yeast and again everything is brought to homogeneity.
  2. The amount of warm water specified in the recipe is poured into the container with bulk products with continuous stirring.
  3. Without turning off the mixer (also on minimum mode), knead the mass until it becomes homogeneous. Then, while stirring, vegetable oil is added in several stages. Knead everything together for about 10 minutes.
  4. To properly prepare pita bread, you need to let the dough “grow.” That is, the finished mass is transferred to a larger container and covered with cling film (can be replaced with a clean, damp, thin towel). In this form, the dough should stand at room temperature until it doubles in volume (about 1-1.5 hours).
  5. After the specified time, the dough is kneaded (instead, you can fold it several times). Then cover again with film/towel and leave for about another half hour (but not less than 20 minutes).
  6. The finished mass is kneaded again and divided into equal pieces, which are rolled into balls (you should get 8 pieces). The dough, divided into portions, is again left to rise.
  7. After 10 minutes, the pieces are rolled into balls again, each of which is rolled out into a small cake (15 cm in diameter).
  8. Before baking the pita bread, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 250 degrees. With this heating of the oven, the cakes are baked for no more than 6 minutes. Finished products should not be ruddy. Properly prepared pita bread, as the instructions say, should be pale but soft.
  9. The baked crumpets are removed from the oven, transferred to a wooden stand (or on a clean wooden cutting board), covered with a towel and left to cool completely.

As you can see, preparing pita bread is not difficult and you do not need to have any special knowledge or abilities. Pita flatbreads are served with meat dishes and salads.

Unleavened Pita

The bread prepared according to this recipe is not inferior in taste to the first option and in appearance it is no less appetizing, as can be seen in the photo depicting the finished product.

Ingredients for making pita:

  • 3 full glasses of flour;
  • ¼ cup sour milk;
  • 1 glass of water;
  • ½ spoon of salt.

This pita bread recipe involves making sourdough starter. To do this, milk, water and flour are mixed in a ratio of 1:1:4, where 1 equals 50 grams. Then the mixture is placed in a warm place for three days. The finished sourdough has a sour smell, when it appears it can be moved to the refrigerator for storage and used as needed. But in the future it will need to be refreshed, that is, dilute a 100-gram portion of the starter with water (¼ cup) and flour (a heaping glass) and leave in a warm place for two hours (sometimes it will take a little more time).

Now let's look step by step at how to prepare this unleavened pita bread. Cooking diagram:

  1. Sourdough, water and flour are mixed in proportions 1:1:2 (where 1 equals 125 grams). First, warm water is added to the starter, mixed until smooth, salt and the specified amount of flour are added. The dough is kneaded.
  2. The finished dough is left to proof for 1.5 hours, after which it is necessary to preheat the oven to 250 (or up to 270) degrees.
  3. While the oven is warming up, the finished mass is laid out on a board or table sprinkled with flour and divided into portions. Small balls are formed from the pieces, which are rolled out and placed on a wire rack.
  4. This unleavened bread takes no more than 3 minutes to bake. The finished cakes should rise well and increase in volume. The baked donuts are removed from the oven and wrapped in a clean towel.

  • You should not keep the bread in the oven for a long time, as it will become browned and crispy. Compliance with the specified temperature regime is also of great importance.
  • As for flour, in the version with unleavened dough it is permissible to mix rye and white flour in a ratio of 1:4.

Regardless of the fact that pita bread recipes are different, the finished products turn out tasty and unusual. At home they are served separately, but in most cases they are used not as ordinary bread, but as a “pocket” for all kinds of fillings.

Video: Yeast-free lean pita bread - step-by-step home recipe

Pita is a traditional Arabic flat bread - a flatbread, which is interesting in itself, because it is delicious, and as a “basis for creativity”, since there is an emptiness inside the pita that can be filled with almost any filling. Making pita is not difficult at all. Shall we try?

To prepare 8 pitas you will need:

500 g flour (I took 350 g premium wheat and 150 g whole grain wheat)

1 teaspoon with a small handful of salt

1 teaspoon sugar

0.5 teaspoon baking soda (quicklime)

1 packet instant instant yeast (7 g)

1 tablespoon each olive and sunflower oil

PREPARATION:

For the dough, sift flour into a bowl, add yeast, salt, sugar, soda and stir everything. If you use dry active yeast, not fast-acting, first dissolve it in a small amount of water (50 - 100 g), add a little flour from the general norm, stir until a homogeneous batter without lumps and leave in a warm place until it foams, and then the mash becomes foamy. add to the flour and continue with the recipe.

Gradually adding water, knead a soft dough.

Cover the bowl with the dough and leave it alone for 15–20 minutes. During this time, the flour will absorb water, form gluten, and the dough will be simpler and easier to knead.

Knead the rested dough until smooth and homogeneous. While kneading, gradually add vegetable oil. If you prepare the dough with the addition of whole grain flour, knead carefully and carefully, since such flour contains bran that can break the gluten threads. If you do not use whole grain flour, knead the dough long enough (at least 5 - 7 minutes) and intensively. During the process of kneading, remember it well, rub it, fold it, you can even beat it off, this will only be beneficial.

Cover the finished dough and leave in a warm place until it doubles in volume, then punch down and divide into 8 equal parts.

Roll each part into a smooth ball.

Cover the dough balls with film and leave to rest for 10 - 15 minutes. During this time, the gluten will have time to relax and the dough will become softer and more pliable, making it easier to roll out. Roll out the rested dough into flat cakes 3–4 mm thick.

Cover the rolled out cakes with film and leave for 30-40 minutes. It is very convenient, after rolling out the cakes, to immediately transfer them to baking paper and then bake on it.

Preheat the oven and baking sheet (just place it inside the oven) to the highest temperature possible. Preheat the oven in advance - before placing the first baking sheet in the oven, it should stand for 20 minutes at its maximum temperature.

Carefully drag the parchment with the tortillas onto the hot baking sheet and place at the very bottom of the oven.

Pitas are baked very quickly - literally 3-4 minutes. During the baking process they will puff up greatly, but will not brown at all.

Immediately after baking, cover the pitas with a towel and let cool completely.

Enjoy your meal!

Now that the flatbreads are ready, you can start baking. I bake in a special pan, which I have already talked about more than once.
It consists of 2 large “ladles” with handles, similar to our miracle stoves. The only difference is that in the miracle stove the spiral is closed in the top lid, i.e. it is not visible, but in my pan the spiral is open - you can see it in the photo.

The “secret” to getting an empty pocket inside the flatbread lies in the baking method.
The fact is that the pita must be placed on a hot surface and baked at a very high temperature; the dough does not have time to rise evenly as in the oven and “tears,” forming an empty pocket inside. For example, here pita is baked in special ovens and placed right next to the fire, i.e. the temperature is very high.
Another “secret” is that the baking pita should be placed on the same side on which it lay while proofing. To do this, lift the edge of the towel and turn the pita onto your hand, like this.

That is, it turns out that the pita lies upside down on the hand. Now we turn the pita directly onto the hot surface of the stove and it turns out to be in the “correct” position, i.e. it lies on the “bottom”, on the same side on which it lay while proofing on the board.
When baking pita, I first place the flatbread on top of the lid, when it starts to swell slightly, I push it inward, and put the next flatbread on the lid, then take out the first pita (I just turn the bottom pan over by the handle - the pita falls out on the table), and the second pita I push it in, put the third pita on the lid, etc.

These are the Petes you will get.

I really love Pitas made from whole grain flour with bran, that’s how they turn out for me.

For whole grain pitas I make the exact same dough. But since whole grain flour takes up more water, I make the dough a little softer; after the dough rises, it becomes denser.
Just because you don't have such a pan doesn't mean you can't bake pita bread. The main condition for baking pita is high temperature.
You can bake pita in a frying pan and just brown it in the oven. To do this, heat the oven properly, put the frying pan on the fire (it would be nice to put a flame divider on top of the burner, but not necessary). NO NEED TO LUBRICATE WITH OIL! As soon as the frying pan is well heated (but do not heat it!), put the Pita on it, when the Pita puffs up, put it in the oven. It literally takes minutes. You cannot keep pita bread in the oven for a long time, otherwise it will turn into a cracker, because... The dough is thin and bakes instantly.
I tried to bake pita simply in a frying pan without using an oven - and it worked. Of course, its color is not as even as when it came out of the oven, but it baked wonderfully. Heat the frying pan, then turn the heat to moderate so that the pita does not burn. Place the pita on a hot frying pan, when it starts to puff up, turn it over to the other side with a spatula - I didn’t even put it in the oven, I just fried it on both sides in the frying pan and that’s it. You don’t have to wait for the pita to begin to swell, but simply turn it over after 2-3 minutes and it will swell anyway. I have an ordinary frying pan, however, I also covered the pita with a lid on top and kept the heat low.

The frying pan is the most ordinary one, the lid was taken from a convex pan.

The girls also baked pita in a pan with a glass lid - they put the pita in a hot pan, covered it with a lid, after 2 minutes they turned the pita over and it puffed up. In general, try it and you will definitely succeed!
Pitas may not inflate if the temperature is not high enough or there is mechanical damage in the flatbread (the bottom is torn, for example).

Arabic pita bread swells greatly during baking. Thanks to this, a “pocket” is formed in the middle, into which you can later put the filling. Pita can be used for lunch (filled with baked meat and vegetables, for example, or served as bread for meat dishes) and for breakfast (you can put some salad or canned vegetables inside).

These flatbreads are the oldest type of bread and do not require special tools or ovens. They could easily have been produced by nomadic peoples such as the Bedouins, who mixed flour with water and formed round shaped cakes which they fried over a fire. The word pita comes from the Greek (????) meaning flatbread, and probably comes from the ancient Greek words pektos meaning "hard". From Greek pita is translated as pita bread. In Arab countries, pita bread is called khubz arabi or Arabic bread.

It is one of the oldest types of bread made by man. It is common in the cuisines of many countries around the Mediterranean. It is popular in the Eastern Mediterranean countries (eg Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt) and North Africa. This round wheat bread is popular in the Middle East and you can often buy pita bread in our stores. There is Turkish pita bread and Arabic pita bread. It is typically served with a savory sauce, but its versatility in the kitchen allows us to unleash our imagination in terms of adding toppings to it. How does this type of bread differ from traditional ones and how can you make fluffy pita at home?

This is bread made from ordinary simple dough, the same one used to make regular bread or. The dough includes flour, water, salt, sugar and yeast. As a rule, pitas are cooked in a hot oven at a very high temperature - up to 230 degrees, while the dough rises very quickly. The outer layer of thin dough grows rapidly under the influence of temperature, carbon dioxide and water vapor, thus, once the top layer is separated from the bottom, the famous pockets of bread appear. Some pita recipes suggest frying it in a frying pan, but it is not a fact that this method will create the appropriate pockets.

Pita bread - what to eat with

Pita is often called Arabic bread. Interestingly, in Greece, it takes the shape of a cone, which is filled with filling. When it comes to the ingredients that can be added to it, there is a huge variety. It can be used to prepare Cypriot sandwiches with halloumi cheese or the Brindisi recipe with anchovies, olives and herbs such as spinach.

These breads traditionally play two roles - food and eating utensils, successfully replacing cutlery and plates. Cut into triangles, they are used to scoop sauces and dips such as hummus (lentil dip) and taramosalata (Greek pasta with caviar). These breads are like wrapping various components or placing them in an inner pocket. Examples are the famous Greek and Turkish dishes - kebabs, falafel, gyros and souvlaki. In Arab countries, almost any dish can be eaten on pita bread. It can also serve as the bottom of a pizza, which is popular in Turkey, where they are topped with minced meat and herbs.

Pita bread fillings:

  • This flatbread will go very well with barbecue and hot sauce.
  • It is also a good idea to split the tortilla in half and place a nutritious mixture of vegetables and meat in the middle. For this composition, you can add garlic sauce or mayonnaise, which will add a sophisticated taste, or simply pour olive oil over the ingredients.

To fill pita bread, the filling can be varied:

  • finely shredded cabbage,
  • tomatoes,
  • pickles,
  • slices of cheese,
  • pieces of fried poultry.

Greek pita is also good as a snack, baked in the oven. Thus, we can add previously fried minced meat to it with the addition of grated cheese, pineapple, red beans and corn. Bake the bread obtained in this way lightly so that the ingredients are well combined and the cheese melts. These appetizers can be used as a side dish for lunch with a spicy Mexican-style sauce. This food is quite high in calories and harmoniously combines carbohydrates and fats.

How to cook pita?

A characteristic feature is that during baking a pocket is formed in the dough, which makes filling it with minced meat much easier.

Pita bread - recipe No. 1

In order to prepare pita you must have the following ingredients:

  • 1 kg flour,
  • 1.5 glasses of milk,
  • 4 grams of yeast,
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil,
  • 2 tablespoons sugar,
  • 2 tablespoons salt,
  • 600 ml warm water.

The yeast must be combined with milk and sugar, then 4 tablespoons of flour must be added. Place the prepared mixture in a warm place, and when it doubles in volume, add all the other ingredients and mix thoroughly. If the mixture is too thick, it can be thinned a little with water and then set aside to rise for about 2 hours. You have to remember to cover the dough with a cloth because this will make it rise faster. After it has grown, it must be kneaded on a floured table and divided into small pieces in the shape of an ellipse, and then rolled out into flat cakes, which are placed in the oven on a greased baking sheet with olive oil. The pita is ready when the dough has risen and become puffy. This usually takes a few minutes, about 6-8. The oven should be heated to approximately 220 degrees.

Pita bread - recipe No. 2

  • 300 g flour (approximately 2 cups),
  • 20 g yeast,
  • salt,
  • a pinch of sugar
  • spoon of olive oil.

Mix the yeast with sugar and a few tablespoons of warm water. Let it sit until it grows. Sift the flour. Add salt and yeast, mix, adding warm water (the dough should be like dumplings). Knead, adding flour until it comes away from your fingers. Grease your hands with olive oil and brush the top of the dough and let it stand covered in a warm place. When it increases in volume, divide into four parts and leave to rise again. Form thin cakes and place in dry trays, cover with a lid and let stand to rise. Bake at 250 degrees for about 10 minutes. Take it out and wrap it in cloth to prevent it from drying out. Serve hot, straight from the oven.

Note: You can replace half the flour with wholemeal or wholemeal flour.

Pita in a bread machine:

All ingredients for the dough must be placed in the kneading container in the order specified by the bread machine manufacturer. Set the program for kneading the dough and proofing the dough (about 1.5 hours), and then take out the dough, knead it and proceed as written above.

Notes:

The amount of water needed for the dough depends on the type of flour and humidity, so the dough will likely use different amounts. You should add more water little by little and check the consistency of the dough.

Some cooks recommend adding olive oil.

If you do not eat the bread right away, let it cool. Then you need to pack them tightly in a bag and store them for 2-3 days. Before serving, sprinkle with water and then heat in the oven.

Having prepared tahini - sesame paste, I got a taste for it and took on other popular oriental dishes. Next in line was pita - an original flatbread that looked like an inflatable pillow. The inside of these flatbreads is empty, like a pocket, so it is very convenient to cut it and put the filling inside.

Pita is even used instead of a spoon, for example, to eat hummus, which will be discussed in the next recipe. There is a special technology for baking, but the love for these unusual flatbreads prompted housewives to create a recipe for a regular oven. The taste of the products is almost like traditional ones from the Middle East.

Ingredients: 1 tbsp. water, 2.5 tbsp. flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. sugar, 2 tbsp. olive oil, 0.5 packs of dry yeast.

Dissolve sugar and salt in a glass of warm water.

Mixed flour with yeast and liquid.

This is such a beautiful porous risen dough.

Before continuing to work with it further, preheat the oven, and very much - to maximum. My maximum is 270 degrees.
Knead the dough again and divide it into 8 parts.

We form balls of dough, which we roll into a flat cake. The cakes should not be thick - 5-7 mm thick, and about 15 cm in diameter.

We put the baking sheet in the oven to heat up, put the cakes on it so that there is space between them, and put it in the oven (remember, it is very hot!). It only takes five minutes for the cakes to puff up like balloons. There is no need to brown them to prevent them from becoming rough.

We take the cakes out onto a towel, but do not put them on top of each other, cover them with another towel.

Traditionally, pita is served warm, but, as it turns out, cold is very tasty. Have you already figured out what to put in your pita pocket? Here, without looking back to the East, you can let your imagination run wild: salads, pates, all sorts of mixtures like shawarma, or maybe a cutlet with additives, like in a hamburger... in general, you can come up with a lot of things.

By the way, if you have baked a lot of flatbreads, then you can again adopt the national method of storing pita: wrap it in foil and put it in the freezer.

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